Conduit for electric wires



L L A H r B m & S D R A H C I W M M m GONDUIT FOR ELECTRIC WIRES.

No. 414,327. Patented Nov. 5, 1889.

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U ITED STATES PATENT WOFFICE.

JOHN RICHARDS AND JOSEPH B. HALL, OF NEVARK, NElVJERSEY.

CONDUIT FOR ELECTRIC WIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 414,327, dated November5, 1889.

Application filed August 9, 1889. Serial No, 320,220. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, 'J oi N W. RICHARDS and JOSEPH B. HALL, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inConduits for Electric ires, &c.; and we do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and toletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

The present invention relates to conduits or ducts for electric-lightwires or other wires, adapted to be arranged in the street at that sideof the walk nearest the gutter, and is designed to furnish a curb whichis neater and at the same time more useful than the ordinary stone curbnow employed.

The invention consists in the arrangement and combinations of partsdescribed in the following specification and illustrated in the drawingsherewith accompanying, and which will finally be embodied in the clausesof the claim.

Referring to said drawings, Figure 1 illustrates one side of a street inperspective, showing the adaptation of our improved curb thereto in theplace of the ordinary stone curb. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one ofthe sections constituting the curb-conduit. Fig. 3 is a plan view or."the same with the cover removed; and Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionthrough the walk and the gutter, illustrating the arrangement of theconduit in place, and also one means for connecting the same with ahouse, and through which the con ducting-wires may be led into the same,Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a perforated frame through which thewires are passed and by Ineansof which they are arranged in place withinthe sections comprising the conduit. Fig. 6 represents a cross-sectionof the conduit provided with a partition of a non-conducting materialarranged horizontally therein, and above and below the same are arrangedthe wire supporting or holding frames; and Fig. 7 is a vertical sectionof one of the wire-holding frames provided with glass eyelets or anyother suitable non-conducting material through which the wires arepassed.

In said drawings similar reference-letters are used to indicatecorresponding parts in each of the several views.

I11 carrying out our invention the conduit is formed in sections joinedat the ends with cement, and which are preferably of cast-iron linedwith wood; but the same may be of any other desirable material, andarranged along the street in place of thestone curb, and each section isprovided with a cover, which is on a level with the upper surface of thewalk.

In the drawings, A indicates the conduit, which consists of any desirednumber of sections or main portions a, open at the ends and the tops,and upon which are arranged the covers I). The ends of each box may beprovided at their sides and at the bottom with lugs a, into which fitsthe end of the next section, and which are arranged in such a mannerthat the sections when in place interlock and are all of the same heightand perfectly level. As has been stated, covers I) are arranged on eachsection, the same being provided with ribs 1), which fit into recesses ain the sides of the casings or sections a, said ribs and recesses beingdovetailed, in order to avoid the lifting off of the cover from the top,so that the same maybe removed in dependently from any one of thesections in case of a break in the wires or any other accident to thesection. On that side of the section nearest to the walk are arrangedstops a extending up therefrom, as shown more especially in Figs. 2 and4, against which the cover I) abuts, thus preventing the same from beingforced from its position on the section bya sudden jar from wagon-wheelsin case of the backing up of a wagon against the section.

The casing or section a, as is shown in Fig. 4, is arranged at the endof the sidewalk in the same manner as the ordinary curbstone, beingpartly embedded in the ground below the level of the gutter andprojecting above the same at sucha distance that the cover on eachsection is on a level with the top of the walk. Strengthening ribs orbraces o are arranged within the section, extending from side to side inany convenient manner, and

beneath the same and parallel with the plane of said ribs a are arrangedany desirable number of plates 0, preferably of wood, havingperforations c therein, through which are passed the insulatedelectric-light or other wires d, as is evident. Said wire holding platesor frames may be of wood or glass or any other suitable non-conductingmaterial, and in the perforations c in the said frames may be arrangedeyelets c of glass or some analogous material, through which the wires dare passed, as will be seen from Fig. 7.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, the casing or sections 0. may be provided'ontheir inner sides with flanges a upon which is placed a glass plate orpartition g, and above and below the same are arranged the wire holdingor supporting frames 0. This arrangement is of advantage when it isdesirable to string wires in the conduit for different purposesas, forinstance, electric-light wires may be arranged above and telephone-wiresbelow the glass partition in the conduit without any danger of thestronger current in the electric-light wires interfering withthat in thetelephone or other wires that may be arranged within the conduit. Thecasing a may be provided with any number of such horizontal partitions.

At the required distances in each of the sections below the level of thesidewalk may bearranged a smaller conduit or pipe e, through which thewires from the main conduit A may be introduced into the houses, as isillustrated more especially in Fig. 4. In the present case we haveemployed an ordinary pipe for this purpose, which is tapped into theside of the casing or section a at a, as shown.

When it becomes necessary to cross the street with the wires, thesections are arrangedbetween the stones in the cross-walk, as will beseen from Fig. 1, the end sections in the crossing communicating withthe section in the curb in any well-known manner.

Should the casing or section a at any time become charged withelectricity, we have provided the bottom of each section with a copperwire f, leading down therefrom into damp ground, thus discharging theunneces-.

sary amount of electricity from the casing and avoiding all possibledanger to pedestrians and the animals that may pass over and therebycome in contact with the covers of the sections.

The great advantage of this improvement will readily be seen as theWires are removed from above the streets, thereby causing no obstructionto the firemen in case of a fire in a. building on the street.Furthermore, another advantage is attained in that by employing ourimproved conduit in place of the curbstone, and providing the same witharemovable cover on a level with the sidewalk,

any break in the line may be repaired without digging up the street, asis the case in underground conduits heretofore used.

Instead of sliding the covers on from the side of the casing, the samemay be secured to the top thereof by means of bolts, or the same may beslid upon the. sections from one end, as will be understood. This latterconstruction has this objection,however, that in case of a break in theline it will necessitate the removal of the covers of all the sectionsin the street, the cover on the first section being removed first, andso on until the break in the line has been reached.

The conduit may be lined with wood or with any other suitablenon-conducting ma terial, if desirable. Y

Having thusdescribed our inve'ntion,what we claim is- 1. A hollow curbprovided with stops extending up therefrom on that side. nearest thewalk, and having removable covers on said curb adapted to slide awayfrom the walk, and means therein for stringing wires, for the purposesset forth.

2. A hollow curb consisting of sections arranged end to .end, providedwithstops .extending up therefrom on that side nearest the walk, eachsection being provided with a sliding cover adapted to slide in adirection away from the side of the walk, wires arranged in said curb,and means for connecting any one of said sections with a building, sothat wires may. be passed therethrough into the building, for thepurposes set forth.

3. A duct or conduit arranged at the side of the walk of the street totake the place of the curbstone, consisting of sections arranged end toend and interlocking, and provided with recesses in the top of each sideand a cover on each section provided with, reversed wedge-shaped ribsadapted to fit in the corresponding cavity or recesses in the sectionsto enable the sliding movement of the cover therefrom, as and for thepurposes set forth.

4. A duct or conduit arranged at the side of the walk of the street totake the place of the curbstone, consisting of sections arranged end toend and interlocking and provided with recesses in the top of each side,and a cover on each section-provided with reversed wedge-shaped ribsadapted to fit in the corresponding cavity or recesses in the sectionsto enable the sliding movement of the cover therefrom, and means in saidconduit on which wires are arranged, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. A duct or conduit arranged at the side of the walk of the street totake the place of the curbstone, consisting of hollow sections joinedend to end and having recesses in the top'of their sides and projectionsor stops on one side of each section extending up therefrom, and a coveron each section provided with reversed wedge-shaped ribs adapted to fitin the corresponding cavity or recesses in the sections to enable thesliding movement of the cover on the section, and plates in saidsections having perforations therein adapted to receive wires, as andfor the purposes set forth.

6. A duct or conduit arranged at the side Ioo IIO

of the walk of the street to take the place of a curbstone, consistingof hollow sections joined end to end,.each section having recesses inthe top of its sides and being provided on the top thereof with asliding cover on a level with the sidewalk, each cover being providedwith reversed wedge-shaped ribs adapted to fit into said recesses insaid sections to enable the independent sliding movement of each cover,and a wire connected with the bottom of each section leading to theground, for the purposes set forth.

7. A duct or conduit arranged at the side of the walk of a street totake the place of the curbstone, consisting of hollow sections joinedend to end and provided with stops extending up from each section onthat side nearest the walk, a sliding cover on each section on a levelwith the top of the sidewalk and adapted to slide away from said walk,wires arranged within said duct, a separate and independent wireconnected with the bottom of each section and leading to the ground, anda pipe or supplemental conduit extending from any one of said sectionsand terminating in a building, for the purposes set forth.

8. A duct or conduit consisting of sections arranged and securedtogether end to end, provided with sliding covers, partitions of glassor any other non-conducting material therein, and frames or plates aboveand below said partitions for stringing difierent sets of wires thereon,for the purposes set forth.

9. In a duct or conduit, in combination with each section havingupwardly-projecting stops thereon on that side nearest the walk andcovers on each section adapted to slide away from the walk, platesprovided with perforations, and eyelets in said per-' forations madefrom non-conducting material, as and for the purposes set forth.

10. A duct or conduit consisting of sections arranged and securedtogether end to end and provided with sliding covers, horizontalpartitions of glass or any other non-conducting ma terial therein, andframes having eyelets of non-conducting material arranged inperforations therein, said frames being arranged above and below thehorizontal partitions, as and for the purposes set forth.

11. A duct or conduit arranged at the side of the walk of the street totake the place of the ourbstone, consisting of sections arranged end toend and provided with recesses in the top of eachside, a cover on eachsection provided with reversed wedgeshaped ribs adapted to fit into thecorresponding cavity or recess in the sections to enable the slidingmovement of each cover therefrom, partitions of glass or any othernonconducting material therein, and means above and below saidpartitions for stringing wires thereon, substantially as set forth.

12. A duct or conduit arranged at the side of the walk of the street totake the place of the curbstone, consisting of sections arranged end toend and provided with recesses in the top of each side, and a cover oneach section provided with reversed wedge-shaped ribs adapted to fitinto a corresponding cavity or recess in the sections to enable thesliding movement of each cover therefrom, partitions of glass or anyother non-conducting material therein, frames arranged above and belowsaid partitions forstringing wires thereon, and a supplemental conduitfor connecting any one of said sections with a building, for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony that we claim the invention set forth above we havehereunto set our hands this 8th day of July, 1889.

JOHN WV. RICHARDS. JOSEPH B. HALL.

W'itnessesi FREDK. O. FRAENTZEL, FREDK. S. RICE.

